Applauds readers AFN

essay on race in America

I write to applaud the opinion piece What I know, Dont Know when it Comes to Race so beautifully written by AFN guest writer Christopher Gentis in the July 29 edition of your paper.

I have known and admired Chris for many years. I knew him, as we both served together on the Phoenix Police Department, as a bright, conscientious, professional and caring police officer and police leader.

I was able to observe how he supervised his subordinates and when possible, modeled humane problem-solving in our Phoenix community. Over the years as an Ahwatukee resident, I have also admired his work on the many boards and civic efforts he has led to make this community better, fairer and more accepting.

Chriss penetrating discussion and heartfelt understanding of the racial history and disparities in our country, reflected in this piece, is a must read an expos I will be sharing with my good white friends and neighbors when they inevitably ask What do they (BLM) want? We have made so much progresswhy cant they just be patient?

Thank you, Chris. My admiration continues to soar for your timely contributions to our community peace and understanding.

-Jerry A. Oliver

QuikTrip a bad idea for

current 40th Street

I am a resident of the Paseo II community and have been for many years. I decided to pick this community for its well-kept environment for my family retirement calmness. I also chose this community for my family and retirement based on its well- kept and peaceful environment.

The piece of property that is being proposed to house the QT, located off the South East side of Cottonwood Lane and 40th Street near the east exit ramp of the 202 across from the Phoenix Bus Terminal, is in my opinion a horrendous proposal. Please consider my reasoning:

1. The lot is too small to accommodate the number of patrons and their vehicles, i.e. semi-trucks, morning commuters.

2. The intersection in question is already congested due to the bus terminal and early morning traffic.

3. The proposed single entrance to the QT would contribute to major congestion and potential hazards including accidents.

4. A business should have at least two points of ingress and egress for comfortable operation.

Problem solution: Do not build the business at all in that location. Build the proposed QT on the North East Corner of Cottonwood Lane and 40th Street, next to the medical facilities where the property is larger and would help resolve the above issues.

- James C. Mead

Conservancy survey shows skewed thought

My husband and I were elated that someone had taken an interest in the Golf Course. We became very frustrated with the Conservancys interference and on July 23 expressed our displeasure with their measures.

The following is an exchange that took place between July 23 and July 25 and gives the readers an idea of how numbers can be manipulated.

The CWC is not opposed to having a community vote, as long as everything is done legally. Our attorneys say that the Board cannot change the CC&Rs for land the association does not own. The Board disagrees, so a trial is being scheduled to decide whos right in court. Lets consider all options, have a vote... but lets do it legally. That seems reasonable.

We are also quite willing to review any proposal from The Edge, and they are certainly free to sell their plan to the community. Thats what they did at Altadena School in late January. For their next proposal, the Edge have hired a Scottsdale PR agency and also started advertising in the AFN. So, lets be clear. No one is stopping the Edge from presenting any plans.

We believe the community should have the final say. In fact, we believe so strongly in listening to the community that we funded a broad survey of over 2,500 households across Club West in June (every address the post office had). Before presenting options to the community, we think it is wise to ask the community what they want (and dont want) in advance. The survey had over 800 respondents, and is statistically projectable to the entire community with a margin of error of only +/-3%. We asked how they felt about 4 different options -- if they want a restored golf course, a park, leave as is or new houses.

The survey indicates that the community could be happy with 3 of these options (golf, park or leave as is), but the vast majority (80%) is decidedly against the prospect of new housing. This was crystal clear. Unfortunately, the only option being considered by the HOA Board or sold by the new land owners is the one that the community doesnt want.

The majority (77%) would like to see the course re-opened, but 85% would be happy with just a park if the golf option is unrealistic. More telling is that 81% of the community would be content to leave the land just as is if thats what it takes to avoid new houses. Not everyone likes as is, but are we going to ignore a majority of 81%?

Further, it is also significant that 78% of people who do NOT live on the golf course say it would be unethical to build new houses behind their neighbors that do live on the course. Not everyone feels this way, but 78% if a significant majority that cannot be ignored.

If fielding this survey was butting in in anyones opinion, then so be it. Apparently, the vast majority of the community is glad we did, based on the survey results.

-Club West Conservancy

Thank you for your response. It gave us a window into your skewed thought process. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: you do not have the majority voice of this community.

Eight hundred responses are only 1/3 of the residents. Obviously, many others, or should I say the majority, were not interested in your questionnaire. Relying on your questionnaire for answers to complicated questions was a mistake.

Yes and no answers will not suffice, considering the complexities of these issues.

The property is now owned by The Edge. They have taken an interest in our community and taken a chance with their personal finances to solve a serious problem which no one else wanted to address.

They should have a chance to develop a plan before any decisions are made. Your litigation which was voted on and approved by no one but at the same time affects all residents will push an ultimate solution months and months down the road. Our belief is that very few residents want that.

Too many issues are currently decided by a minority without giving thought to the majority. We do agree on one thing, the community should have the final word. Continuing to say that 78% of people who do not live on the golf course say it would be unethical to build new houses behind their neighbors is totally false.

What is unethical is your constant statement that a majority feels that way. Your credibility is brought into question when you continue to use these percentages to state your case.

We all know that there will never be another golf course because there is no water! The as is course of action is ridiculous. Leaving the golf course a barren waste land (i.e. The Lakes) is an option way below the quality of our community and its residents.

Now is the time for everyone to grow up and act like mature adults. The petty bickering needs to end and all residents need to unite in favor of a reasonable solution that solution is parkland.

We all need to face the reality that The Edge Group will have to build some homes somewhere within our community. Hopefully, the design will be amenable to everyone and make the land the quality we all want.

-Greg and Sandy Peterson

Our scientists will save us if we listen to them

Hopefully, Americans can see that the strain of anti-intellectualism that led to our current leadership is now killing Americans.

I would argue that it is not just the sciences of biology, virology, biochemistry, biophysics and so on that are important. They are greatly important and will more than likely save many of our lives.

But I believe going forward that psychology, psychiatry and history will be sciences that will be essential in healing the wounds that have been inflicted on us these last years and vitally important for keeping them from happening again.

Psychiatry and psychology are still considered mumbo jumbo by a segment of the American population, but they have been and will continue to be wildly important both in helping Americans recover from the effects of the virus and for helping us choose wisely in the future.

Had we been more attuned to theories of personality we may have noticed some things. I am not a psychiatrist, but if we consulted one, she would probably tell us that you would not need to be Sigmund Freud to figure out some simple things about personality.

For instance: If every candidate running for presidency for 50 years released their income taxes and there was huge pressure to do that and the person running does not, we can assume he is hiding something. Pretty obvious.

If we see patterns of cruelty, we may want to judge that person unfit to lead us. We have seen serious cruelty in the last four years from our leader. Cruelty is often a marker for mental health issues.

Making fun of a reporter with a disability, ordering children separated from their parents and put in cages, tweeting about women calling them dogs, fat and ugly are examples of needless cruelty. President Trumps latest cruelty was having a campaign rally in the middle of a deadly pandemic.

Encouraging people to ignore the advice of scientists. To gather inside without masks. This will certainly lead to needless suffering from the virus. Concern only for himself and his re-election and not his supporters is certainly cruel and should disqualify anyone from a leadership position.

Historians know that the tyrants of history engage in cruelty and suppression of opposition. Hitler, Stalin, Putin could all give orders to have people killed and not miss a moments sleep.

He degrades and denigrates members of his staff. At his recent rally in Tulsa Oklahoma, Trump announced that he asked his administrators to slow down testing. This is cruel. It does not allow Americans who believe themselves to be ill to get a test. It also allows the virus to spread and kill more Americans.

President Trumps most recent authoritarian and cruel move is to send unidentified federal officers to Portland. They are picking up U.S. citizens and hauling them off, with our citizens having no idea who just kidnapped them. They even shot one peaceful protester in the face with non-lethal rounds, shattering bones.

I taught students that authoritarian governments have secret police forces that only answer to, and take orders from, the dictator, and that free counties should never stand for that.

Educating our nation in the biological sciences is huge to save our lives; teaching our nation psychology and history will help us save our democracy from authoritarianism.

-Barry Smith

FDA is leading Americans down the wrong path

The Food and Drug Administration has fought alternative medicine for more than 20 years. Alternative medicines pose a huge problem for them, as they can cure any disease, even death, whereas mainstream medicine only supports Big Pharmas drugs.

These drugs are foreign to the body and challenge the immune system. Nearly all of these drugs have side effects, causing other diseases, sometimes forcing the patient to use other drugs for these new diseases.

Even our vaccines are bad. Twenty years ago, Dr. Garth Nicholson, director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, decided to inspect vaccines. His claim to fame was that he directed one of the five most powerful microscopes in America. He found that the major contaminant in vaccines was mycoplasmas.

As Dr. Nicholson has shown, when children get vaccinated they are receiving mycoplasmas which activate all internal diseases. He published this info in one of the major journals for all to see, but the FDA did nothing to correct this problem with vaccines, as evident by the number of childrens hospitals in this country .

When God put life on earth, he put mechanisms in humans to prevent children from getting a disease. The human body has to grow to late teens to start producing mycoplasmas, which accumulate in its body as you age. Mycoplasmas are required to activate disease cells for diseases to occur.

Lets take our present problem: We have a coronavirus ravaging our country. The World Health Organization has already labeled the virus as a global health emergency.

Our country is gearing up its testing, using diagnostic kits, which shouldnt be what we focus on. We have a medical system that has no treatment for this disease. Also, there is no vaccine. The whole system is now focused on vaccines because our government is bankrolling this effort.

Alternative medicine has many cures, but the FDA wont use these treatments, not because they dont work, but if these treatments cure, then the government will quit funding Big Pharma. So, the FDA is sacrificing the health of our society for the all mighty buck.

This virus is spreading because we are relying on everyones immune system to be functioning well enough to stop it. This cannot happen without help from medicine. If the present treatment continues, all patients with weak immune system will die because their immunity systems are not efficiently functioning.

How long are we going to wait for the correct approach to this virus?

It looks like we need to toss out our coronavirus team, and get a team that isnt led by FDA people, people who are willing to accept natural alternative medicine and spread the word to the public that they are going to have to quit depending upon the government and protect themselves from this disease.

-Don Crook

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Letters to the Editor | Opinion - Ahwatukee Foothills News